Pet books we like...

Friday, March 30, 2007

A couple of fresh and light dishes...

We made a fresh, tangy and a little unusual slaw to have with dinner tonight. In this Fruit Slaw, there are four kinds of diced fruit that make this a vibrant and colorful dish. Perfect for a festive spring or summer-time party, pineapple, pears, mango and red grapes are tossed together with broccoli slaw for a crunchy texture against the juicy fruit. While you will find your normal suspects in the dressing, there are a few key ingredients to transform this recipe by adding an unusual, but delicious, twist. Whisked into the creamy mayonnaise and sour cream combination is cilantro, lime zest, fresh lime juice, sugar and curry powder! We liked how the lime brought a refreshing tang - but we found the curry powder almost seductive with its sweetness lingering on each piece of fruit. You can prepare the dressing ahead of time, but wait until you are ready to serve to toss it with the fruit.

I had a bunch of bits and pieces of different ingredients in the refrigerator that I needed to use up, so on nights like this I love to make frittatas. They are easy to make and are usually pretty flexible as to what you can throw in them. Tonight's Broccoli, Asiago and Chicken Sausage Frittata starts off by cooking chopped broccoli, green onions, garlic and diced chicken sausage. Once the broccoli has become crisp-tender, whole eggs and egg whites seasoned with Italian herbs, salt, fresh ground pepper and crushed red pepper are added into the pan and the skillet goes into the oven to cook. Just when the eggs are set, grated Asiago cheese is scattered on top and the skillet is left in the oven for just a couple more minutes to melt the cheese. We added some chunky diced fresh tomatoes after cooking for a pop of color with some more thinly sliced green onions.

Stuffed with broccoli and sausage, this was quite the hearty and filling dinner while still being somewhat light. If I had a jar already opened, I thought some diced roasted red peppers would have been another great addition to this frittata.